The big event for this weekend was of course the Bolder Boulder 10K race. The worst part was having to wake up at 5 am to catch the bus to Boulder for the start of the race. Since I hadn't trained nearly enough for this race and hadn't run over about 3 miles since the marathon last November, I was sure that I was going to hit a wall around mile 4 but, amazingly enough I got a second wind at Km 7 and ran on ahead of Kim and Ted. I only came in about a minute ahead of the two of them at a little over 52 minutes. At the end my legs were killing me and are still killing me today, just look at the elevation map. Anyway, we got a lovely goody bag with all sorts of post race foods like Sport Jelly Bellies and miniature bagels. Also, we got our free beer. Most of the other races I've been in have made the racers wait in an completely separate line to get their beer, this one I liked a lot better since you got the beer in the same line as your food, very efficient. Anyway, afterwards we sat in the stadium and watched the other racers finishing, there were 26,000 people in the race. Then we wandered around the Expo outside the stadium and tried a bunch of free food. It was a beautiful day and we sat on the grass for a while eating icecream before we headed back into the expo and then caught a bus back to Boulder. That afternoon we all took well deserved naps.

Yay for long weekends! And yay for Coors Light, haha! After a fairly productive Saturday morning of running, yard sale shopping and eating with Kim, Ted and DJ, I got a text message from Judo Adam asking if I was up for joining a few people at a bar to watch the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships), I thought sure I'd only ever come across it in passing on TV before and it might be fun to see it at a bar. Plus, I had nothing else planned that night. So I show up at just about the biggest bar I'd ever seen (I guess they call it an entertainment center) and get ready to watch the fights. The Silver Bullet Girls are wandering around giving raffle tickets away if you buy a Coors Light so I think "why not?" and get one. Meanwhile the fighting has started and between Heidi on my left talking about how cute The Rock is (he was in the audience on TV) and Jess on my right telling me all the intricacies of Mixed Martial Arts fighting it was rather entertaining. I picked fighters to cheer for based on, if say, they were from Virginia or simply because I couldn't remember the other guys name and had a great time cheering away with the rest of the crowd who seemed to know a lot more about it than me. After the main event was over and a large portion of the crowd had left, a guy showed up at the front of the room with a microphone to announce the winner of the Coors Light raffle. It was a little confusing at first because, I think, the guy was completely drunk, but he finally called out a raffle number, MY raffle number! I was completely shocked that I had won and the man with the mic seemed completely shocked that anyone had won, did I mention he was drunk? Anyway, this is what I won:

The winner plus a guest will get the VIP treatment for Ring of Fire 24 Integrity show on June 17th. The winners will be picked up in a limo from Brother's BBQ where they will accompany the Coors Light Ring Girls to the event. At the event the winners will be taken behind the scenes to meet a few of the fighters for pictures and autographs. The winners will then be brought to a double recliner couch set up ringside, where they will be treated to dinner from Brother's BBQ and wash it down with a bucket of cold Coors Light served by the lovely Silver Bullet Girls. The winners will then be brought back via limo to Brother's BBQ for the official ROF 24 after party.

I love that it is completely geared for a guy to win it. Now, I've got to figure out who to take:) Also, does anyone know anything about Ring of Fire? Perhaps, you could update me before I go so that I'm not completely clueless. I hope the fighters don't get offended when I know absolutely zero about them.

Oh yeah, I forgot to give you this link to the Ring of Fire flyer.

iPod is making the nano even easier to run with. In the next month or so they are supposed to begin selling the Nike+iPod Receiver Kit. A sensor that you can put into the insole of a special pair of Nike running shoes and a companion wireless receiver that clicks into the dock of the nano (not using the earphone input). The iPod will then track your pace and distance as well as play your own specified pep up song when you start to flag. It will update your workouts on your computer when you sync up and they even mention something about being able to compare with your friends. Soon after Nike will start selling their special shoes with a pocket under the insole. Assuming the user interface is easy to use, this could possibly be an amazing training tool.

But my question is how does this sensor work? Would it be possible to clip it to the outside of a non-Nike shoe and still get decent stats? Because most runners are very picky about their footwear and if they don't like Nikes then I don't see them switching over just to get the extra iPod perks. I wouldn't, I like my Brooks. I could see less picky runners going in for it though. The $29 price tag doesn't seem that bad though.

My coworker was just telling me about the Outward Bound Relay and the Wild West Relay. They are both ultra relays out here in Colorado. Outward Bound is 170 miles and Wild West is 195 miles and it's all through beautiful Colorado landscape, yes, even mountains. It takes about 24 hours for each team to finish and each person runs multiple legs of several miles each. Maybe it's just because I got up way too early today, but these sound like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Outward Bound is in the beginning of September and might fall a little to close to the Rock and Roll Half Marathon but the Wild West Relay is in August and I might actually think about doing it. It'd be great training for the half, my lungs would be amazing at sea-level after running over Sand Creek Pass at 10,269 feet, don't ya think?


Anyway, I better get through the Bolder Boulder 10K on Monday first. I'm way under prepared.

This morning has been very odd so far. On my way to work I listened to a radio interview with this guy who got into a road rage dispute with Jake Plummer and didn't know it. He found out yesterday that it was Jake and has now decided that he doesn't want them to press charges or give him a fine, since he's got so much respect for the Broncos.

I saw two baby booties on the side of the highway about half a mile from each other one was blue and the other white.

Then I made it into work and they were filming chair races outside my cube for the upcoming National Sales Meeting. They were all so impressed with my ability to cut one piece of paper into a long strip that I got a cameo as holder of the finish line.









Sorry for the fuzziness.

Here's the picture of Mindy and I getting our medals. Unfortunately you can't really see anything. It's a little terrible, it was taken with Collin's camera phone.



That's also the last time that I'll be able to compete in the novice division. Now that I'm a brown belt I have to fight other brown belts and black belts. Darn!

The rank testing for Judo was Saturday morning. I aced the written part of the test, I was always good at cramming :) And then I had to wait for all of the white belts to test for their yellow belt. Since I was going for my green belt I was one of the last to test. When doing the practical part of the test you have to perform every throw, pin, escape, turnover and choke on your list as well as all of the previous lists. There was a panel of 5 black belts scrutinizing your every move, scoring and writing down little comments on your test paper. Also, every one else that has already tested or is yet to test are lined up on the opposite wall sitting indian style and silently watching. My hands were shaking uncontrollably the entire time. I asked Rob to be my uke (the person I throw) for my test since he's about my weight and size, he knows all the throws and I heard that he falls well making your throws look stronger.

Anyway, so I go up there and go through all of the yellow, orange and green belt throws I think it's almost over when Heidi keeps asking me to do other throws that weren't on the list. At the time I wasn't really thinking at all about what that meant, I wasn't even thinking straight enough to realize that this was weird. I knew a few of the extra throws but there were one or two that I couldn't do because I'd never learned them. Then they tested me on the ground techniques, I relaxed a little since I was back in familiar territory but of course after I finished the ones from my lists they started going through others that I had learned long ago but weren't on the list. Later, Nate told me that he could actually see my hands shaking while I was trying to do the chokes. But I still didn't know what was going on until after I finished, sat down and had a second to realize that they had been giving me a test for brown belt. I was so confused.

We watched the last few people go through the tests and then had a little ceremony for the presentation of everyone's new belts. I was the last to be called up, and I think I was more shocked than anyone else when they gave me a brown belt! They said that if there was a rank between green and brown belts they would have given it to me since I hadn't learned all of the brown belt techniques but that I deserved more than a green belt. So they had decided to give me the brown belt and help me get up to speed as fast as possible. I think that I was the first person they've ever promoted 3 belts at once. No one had thought that it would happen, they hadn't even gotten a new brown belt for me, I was presented with Jerr's old brown belt which he kept at the dojo and was about 2 sizes too big for me. I'll get a new brown belt as soon as Heidi has a chance to go pick one up.

Saturday night there was a celebratory BBQ at Jerr's house. I celebrated a little too much as Mongo ended up having to drive me home and force feed me water and toast. I vaguely remember him commenting on my gamecube and being very surprised that I played video games. I asked him why he was surprised and he told me that he thought I was girlier than that. This made me laugh and say "well, whatever gave you that idea?"

What happened here? What were the police officers thinking? If anyone has seen the story from the officers' side I'd like to know. There just has to be something more to it. Otherwise, it is completely idiotic. How can someone get arrested for trespassing on public property?

Merck seems to be doing well these days. I noticed two Health breakthroughs from them today. One involving a recently discovered compound which acts as a completely new type of antibiotic that bacteria are not "yet" resistant to since it kills them in an entirely new manner. This compound is newly discovered and will need years of study before anything practical can come out of it.

The other news item is about the new vaccine which has proven effective against certain papilloma viruses which are believed to cause some types of cervical cancer among other things. This, ladies, is what you get screened for when you get a pap smear. Though the vaccine does not protect against all types of the viruses (I believe we'll still have to get pap smears) it would offer a certain amount of protection. This is being viewed as a huge breakthrough for medical science, however, there are already symptoms of how touchy a subject this could become.

I believe that if the FDA approved a vaccine for say, the bird flu, tomorrow there would be near riots in the streets of people clamoring to receive the shot. There's no question, everyone and their grandmothers would claim a right to have the vaccine. However, because the virus involved in this vaccine is sexually transmitted the outcries have already started and it hasn't even gotten FDA approval yet. They think that kids who get the vaccine will think they have a blank check for as much promiscuous sex as they can handle. Um, excuse me, are you forgetting the other consequences of unprotected sex? Wasn't there the same outcry when condoms where introduced? Is this what's going to happen if they ever find a vaccine for HIV? As far as I'm concerned this is a completely counter productive fear. Kids learn a lot about how to view sex from their parents. Even if those parents aren't sitting their kids down and explaining the birds and the bees, I'd argue that teens and pre-teens learn a lot more from their parents reactions and actions than they ever will from those often awkward and painful conversations. If you're afraid that you're child will see the vaccine as a path towards more sex, then don't you think that your child will think the same thing? I don't think that "do as I say, not as I do" works when you're dealing with morals or views. I'm not saying that sitting your child down and having "the talk" isn't a good idea, far from it. I'm only saying don't tell your kids that they shouldn't have sex and then turn around and say that getting a vaccine will allow kids to have no fear of the consequences of sex.

So here's the update on the Judo Tournament this last weekend! It was held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and I got a GOLD MEDAL!! Ok, ok so there was only one other Senior Woman there to fight and she is a white belt. But hey, it's still a medal, right? The only other woman there was Mindy, who is also from Denver Judo so technically our dojo swept the division, go us! The two of us weighed in at the exact same weight and I might be a little stronger than her but she's no weakling that's for sure. If Mindy's boyfriend ever sends me the picture of the two of us on the podium I'll post it but for now you'll have to do with this:


DJ loved the medal.

Mindy and I fought twice the first one I won with Tomo Nage (Circle Throw)

Graphic from Judoinfo.com (if you can't see it click the link)

The second one, I'm not really sure what happened. I had her in a pin and time ran out, so I guess I had more points than her. Judo scoring is incredibly confusing. There are 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and full points as well as the opposite in penalties. The referee yells them out as you go in Japanese and does not stop the match when someone scores a point. There is a score board where they keep track but it was already reset by the time I looked at it so I have no idea what points I had and what I didn't. Anyway, that's how it went.

This Saturday is Rank Testing and I'm going for my green belt. Very exciting. There are a whole bunch of pins, throws, and terms that I have to know. Unfortunately, I twisted my ankle yet again on monday and won't be able to participate in practice tonight. But it shouldn't be too much of a problem on Saturday, provided I tape it up.

So there is a restaurant called Forth Story which is surprisingly enough on the 4th floor. It's above a popular Denver book store called Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek. The book store will soon move and the restaurant will have to close. It's a fairly fancy restaurant that has live jazz every monday night. So I went with Rob last night after judo to catch some jazz before they close. I wanted dessert and the cheesecake intrigued me. It said it was served with cherry-rhubarb compote and cherry lollipop. I thought that's strange, it must be some weird jam or something that is named cherry lollipop or perhaps they crush up lollipops and put them in the compote for a little crunch. How wrong I was. They actually served me cheesecake with a side of lollipop!



I think that Rob now thinks I'm a little weird for taking out my phone and shooting a picture of my food, apparently he's not a big blog reader. But he got over that when I told him about the Myrtle Beach Biker Children, now he thinks I'm odd for a completely different reason.

So, Brian after giving blood today informs me that I can once again give blood. Apparently, last year the Red Cross loosened their restrictions in reference to Mad Cow and travel in the UK. I guess I hadn't checked for a while. So all of you people who thought you couldn't give blood, check again, you may be able to.

Recently, I've started seeing forrest fire commercials that instead of prominently displaying Smokey the Bear seem more like a trailer for "Bambi". Here's one. I thought what a great way to play on our emotions, cute baby animal and memorable movie from our childhood. I remember Kim taking Billy and I to see "Bambi" in the theatre when it was re-released in 1988. I was somewhat surprised to find out that the Bambi anti-wildfire campaign actually predates Smokey. I know random, but I bet the commercial makes Catherine tear up ;)

dreams. I had two of them last night. One was a little gross, I had gotten out of the shower and was cleaning out my ears with a q-tip and I pulled the q-tip out of my left ear and a huge spongy mass came out of my head. It wasn't waxy or anything, it was clear and spongy and wet. So nasty. In the second dream I was in japanese class and the know-it-all girl was laughing at me because I couldn't pronounce 'au bon pain'. I kept trying and she kept laughing until finally I say "well, I took spanish, not french" and that's the end of the dream. Random, no?

I'm exhausted. Last night I had a soccer game at 10:25 and I thought hey, judo is from 7 to 9 I could go there then get some food then head to the soccer game. No problem, right? Ughhh. I had forgotten that I had to get up at 6 this morning in order to get to my Japanese class this afternoon. I felt like I'd been beat up, I ached everywhere, I had a bloody lip from judo and I'd been hit in the face in soccer. Also, I hadn't eaten a big enough lunch yesterday and I started to realize I needed some fuel about halfway through judo when I was getting creamed by a skinny 13 year-old boy. Granted he's a higher rank, but he's also about half my weight. He seemed to really enjoy running in circles around me while grip fighting, not necessarily effective, but it was extremely annoying.

The funny thing is that I think I actually had a better soccer game since I was too tired to actually think about what I was doing. Luckily, we had plenty of subs. But perhaps next time we have a late game I'll take a page from my team captain's book, she showed up drunk :)

It seems to me that I've heard of this before but I never saw the commercial. 250,000 bouncy balls dropped in San Francisco for a Sony commercial. It's even set to a pretty song. Take a look if you have the time.

With the hopefully imminent release of the newest Zelda, I hope to be blissfully unaware of the world around me in a few weeks. I also will most likely be wrenched away from the current reading phase I've been in. So here are a few reviews of what I've been reading.

Dune prequels (The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, The Battle of Corrin)
I never read any of Frank Herbert's Dune sequels but I heard they weren't very good. His son's attempts have so far been quite entertaining. Like any subsequent books based on a classic, it may rely a little too much on the innovations of it's predecessor and not develop much on it's own, but it was fun for me to read about how the universe of Dune came to be.

Double Star
A short book about a man hired to impersonate a famous politician. I remember liking this book while I read it but right now I couldn't tell you why. I started off hating the main character but by the end reluctantly liking him. The book explores the possibility that if we are forced to constantly play a different person to the outside world, we eventually take on that person's thoughts and even moral outlook. It's interesting to contemplate the pliability of personality, plus there are Martians :)

Atlas Shrugged (currently reading part I)
I can see how people may find this classic hard to get through, perhaps if I were reading it instead of listening to it on my iPod I'd agree. But so far I find it fascinating. The characters drive the incredibly slow moving plot and I can't help wanting to learn more about them. If you do not like long slow moving books with lots of set up, do not read this book.

Blink (currently reading - recommended by Brian)
This non-fiction book about making quick and illogical decisions is very good so far. One of few non-fiction books that I've found hard to put down. It's littered with interesting, real life examples that pull you in. This book delves into what makes us tick and is worth anyone's time. I hear that The Tipping Point, also by Gladwell, is very good too.

So is anyone else out there as excited as I am about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess? If they delay it again, I'm going to scream!